Time Off
by Meggie3367
Summary: Sergeant Calhoun, having time off? Is it any wonder her men, not to mention Ralph, Vanellope and Felix are bewildered?
1. Prologue

**[A/N: This chapter is somewhat of a prologue, hence the shortness. Enjoy. More chapters to come. If they don't come quick enough, NAG ME. Seriously!]**

"Alright! Listen up, ladies!" Sergeant Calhoun barked as she stepped into the room. All the soldiers, who had been lounging around, talking, and playing cards instantly ceased their leisurely activities and stood to attention with a salute; their typical respectful acknowledgement of their commander. She swept her hard eyes around the room before nodding once. "At ease." They relaxed from their uniform positions. "It was a good day today. Good job ladies. Now, as you know, I wasn't feeling one hundred per cent today. So. Kohut. You're in charge of Hero's Duty for a while. Tell the first person shooter something convincing, like I've been called out for more important work, so they think it's part of the game. I don't know when I'll be back. As you were."

As she strode out, an awkward silence lingered. Her men looked from one to another before their previous conversations and activities slowly resumed. Confusion of her words stayed with them though – true, she had been a bit off that morning when the arcade opened – she had said she felt a little nauseous – but a little stomach unrest was never normally a deterrent for her. Tough as nails, that was Tamora Calhoun. So one had to question why she was suddenly announcing that she was taking time off.


	2. Chapter 1

As soon as the arcade had closed, and the all-clear had been called by the Dance Mat Girl, Fix-It Felix Jr. said hurried goodbyes to his friends and co-workers before hurrying off to his apartment to fix something else besides the building. Specifically, a special surprise evening. Tamora always retired to Niceland after work – both husband and wife had agreed it would allow her to unwind easier from a tough day of blasting Cy-bugs – and today Felix wanted to make sure she felt extra comfortable. Whenever he took the opportunity to sneak a peek across at Hero's Duty that day, there seemed to be a new player. Clearly, today had been busier than normal for his wife, hence why he wanted to make an extra effort tonight.

Sporting a questionably pink apron, the pint-sized handyman darted round the apartment, making sure everything was perfect. Dinner started, check. Flowers, check. Wine, check. Excellent. Now all there was to do was to wait for Tamora to come home. And no sooner had he thought that, his wife entered the room, forcefully pushing the door open before striding wearily over to the sofa and slumping heavily down on it with a groan. (She had to keep her head down a little so she didn't hit it on the ceiling though; the Niceland apartments weren't exactly completely suited to someone over twice Felix's height.) She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, and Felix supressed a chuckle. This type of entrance was normal for Tamora, especially when she had had a busy day like today. He had quickly grown used to it.

"Well, good evening, Ma'am!" Felix said cheerily, approaching her with a grin on his face and his hands behind his back. "Welcome to the Niceland Restaurant!" Tamora lifted her head and looked at Felix, raising an eyebrow. It was only then that she became aware of the scent of something cooking. She could tell at once it was her favourite meal – chicken carbonara – but the smell that would usually make her hungry made her stomach twist instead. She was tired. She really didn't feel like sitting down to a proper cooked meal tonight. She just wanted a cold shower, then her bed. She wanted the bliss of unconsciousness and not having to think about things. But Felix was looking at her with his trademark warm smile and eager-to-please eyes, and even she couldn't say no to that. She let out a barely audible sigh and offered him a tired smile. If she could blast Cy-bugs to kingdom come all day, she could do this. "That's carbonara, right?" she asked. "My favourite?"

Felix's smile grew to a beam. "Sure is, Tammy! I figured you'd had a really tough day today, so I wanted to surprise you tonight!" He hopped onto the sofa next to her, then leaned up and planted a kiss on her cheek. "You don't need to worry about a thing – you can just relax!" Tamora didn't even get a chance to say thank you – Felix had already hopped off the sofa again and disappeared into the kitchen. Letting her smile drop, Tamora rubbed her eyes with her palms and sighed again. She arched her back, stretching it until she felt several satisfying cracks as she released the tension from her spine, then collapsed back into her prior slumped position as Felix emerged again. He was clumsily balancing a pretty bouquet of flowers in the crook of one arm, and a bottle of wine in the other, two wine glasses entangled in his fingers. He stuck his tongue out and frowned with concentration as he tried not to drop anything.

"You want some help there, Fix-It?" Tamora asked, starting to rise from her seat. "No ma'am!" Felix quickly insisted, wobbling and nearly losing grip on the bottle of wine before saving it. Stumbling over to the coffee table, he carefully set the wine and glasses down before wiping a gloved hand across his forehead in relief. He knew that he could have fixed it even if he did drop it, but dropping a bottle of wine would have made a big mess. His smile returning, he handed Tamora the small bouquet. To her surprise, a group of daises adorned with sweet shining eyes and big smiles gazed up at her, making her jump a little. Seeing her reaction, Felix sheepishly explained. "They're from the Mushroom Kingdom – Princess Peach allowed me to have some to give to you!" Princess Peach? Oh, right. The very pink and girly ruler of Mario's universe. Everything smiled there, even the sun, so that did explain the flowers.

Gingerly setting them on the coffee table too as Felix fetched a corkscrew and uncorked the bottle of wine – she found flowers staring at her disconcerting for some reason – she ran a hand through her messy hair to remove it from her eyes and watched him carefully pour two glasses. The wine was a deep, rich crimson colour, and although she normally would have accepted a drink gladly, she wasn't really sure she wanted one now any more than a hot meal. Her bed called her again, and her eyes felt heavy and dry. Nonetheless, she took the glass Felix presented to her, thanked him, and tapped her glass lightly against his. The wine did taste good when she took a sip, but still, she didn't drink much. Felix sat by her on the sofa again, tapping his fingers lightly against the rim of the glass awkwardly. Normally, more of a conversation would have been struck up by now, even if it was just Tamora venting to him about her day – which, of course, he was always there to listen to. He couldn't help but feel something was wrong, besides her being tired. There was a nagging voice at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite ignore.

"So…" he began tentatively, glancing sideways up at her. "Today was really busy for you, huh?" Tamora nodded once. "Mm. We just got player after player…" she replied vaguely, swirling the crimson liquid gently and staring blankly ahead at nothing in particular. Felix frowned lightly at her response. "Yeah…we were quite busy today too, but probably not so much as you." A silence followed, and the nagging voice in the back of Felix's mind got louder. "Tammy…is everything alright?" Felix asked finally, concerned. Tamora looked at him then. She saw the blatant concern in his face, then felt a sting of guilt, then irritation at herself. She couldn't do this. The plan had been to put on a façade of being fine, but she couldn't. She stood, and allowed the words on her tongue to spill out before she could insist she was fine again and go on wearily pretending to be happy. "I'm sorry Felix. I can't do this tonight. I'm going to bed." Her voice was flat and cutting as she set down her glass and walked quickly from the room into their bedroom, shutting the door more loudly than she had intended, leaving a bewildered Felix sat alone on the sofa. "Oh…erm…ok…"

Tamora leaned against the closed door and rubbed her eyes with her palms again miserably. She hadn't needed to look back at Felix to know what the look on his face would have been. Hurt, confused…there was the guilt and self-annoyance again. Gritting her teeth and scowling, Tamora sank down the door until she was sitting on the floor. She thumped the carpet with her fist once, drawing a muffled thud from the wooden floor beneath. She listened for movements outside the door and heard none for quite a while before she heard Felix shuffling round, silently clearing up the barely used glasses, the barely drunk wine, the barely looked at flowers. Sighing, she hauled herself to her feet, pulled off her armour and threw it aside in a messy heap in the corner, and collapsed on her bed. Drawing the covers around her and over her shoulders, she stared at the wall, waiting for sleep to come. Unfortunately, it didn't.

She found herself still awake when Felix came to bed some time later. She didn't move as he slipped under the covers beside her, and waited to see if he would say something. He didn't, and she bit her lip. She didn't think she was going to get any sleep tonight after all.


	3. Chapter 2

**[A/N: Pardon any out of character-ness...]**

"Cy-bug!"

Tamora Calhoun shot bolt upright in bed suddenly, following her outburst that had wrenched her from the nightmare she had been having into the waking world again. She looked around in disorientation for a few seconds before remembering where she was. She sighed, blew her hair from her face, and sunk back into her pillow. It was only a nightmare. Although it was cruel irony, in her opinion, that the nightmare was about her hellish game that she fought her way through almost every day. And that was all too real. Still…the fact she had had a nightmare must have meant she got at least _some_ sleep, even if it seemed like she just closed her eyes from sheer exhaustion for five minutes, only to open them straight afterwards.

She looked to her right to see Felix, still curled up and asleep. It was a wonder she hadn't woken him with her panicked shout a moment earlier. Then again, Felix was a heavier sleeper than she was. She reached over to gently shake his shoulder and wake him, but hesitated. She wanted to wake him, to explain and apologise about last night, but her reluctance held her back. Explaining was awkward. She was more of a 'just do things and don't question them' kind of person. Frustration bubbling up in her chest again, she muttered a profanity under her breath before swinging her legs out of bed, standing, grabbing her shoes, and heading to the bathroom, allowing Felix to remain asleep. She was still wearing her under-armour clothes – a plain black long sleeved t-shirt and a plain black pair of leggings.

Having to duck a little again so as to avoid a head collision with the ceiling, Tamora glared at her reflection in the mirror. It glared back, tired and disapproving. It was almost as if her own reflection was judging her actions the night before. Scowling, Tamora looked down and turned on the cold tap. She let it run for a few seconds, then put her cupped hands under the chilled waterfall. Leaning down, she splashed her face with the water. It a shock change of temperature to her warm skin, but it felt good, refreshing. She splashed her face a few more times before shutting off the tap and pulling a towel off the towel rack and drying off her face. She looked back up at her reflection in the mirror again. Not much had changed, apart from her cheeks and the end of her nose blooming with colour due to the cold water and vigorous towelling down. She still looked tired, and she still looked disapproving.

With an irritated grunt, she slung the towel messily back over the towel rack and trudged into the open lounge and kitchen area. Her stomach was still twisting with nausea and it was beginning to bug her, but nevertheless, she forced down a bowl of plain cereal. Frankly though, it tasted like cardboard. What a delightful way to start the day. Guilt and nausea with a side order of cardboard, please! As she finished her breakfast and took her bowl to the kitchen, she heard Felix stirring in their bedroom, getting up for a busy day of fixing ahead. Tamora panicked a little; normally she was in Hero's Duty right now, always being an early riser, and if Felix saw her here it would just be more she had to explain later. To reiterate her opinion: explaining was awkward.

Hurriedly pulling on her shoes, she left the apartment as quickly and as silently as she was able, and headed for Game Central station. Although Tamora may have left the house without Felix noticing, she wasn't completely 'off the hook', as it were. In her rush and distraction, she had foolishly forgotten one key thing. Her armour was still strewn in a messy pile in the corner of their bedroom. Felix sat up in bed, knuckling the sleep from his eyes, and yawned widely. The first thing he became aware of was no Tamora in bed beside him. That was not unusual. The second thing, her armour, abandoned in the corner. That _was_ unusual. If he knew his wife, which he did, he knew she would never risk Hero's Duty without it. For a start, it would look like a game glitch, which could be dangerous in itself if Mr. Litwak saw, and for another thing, tackling a shooter game without armour was suicide, whether one regenerated or not. Something definitely was not right. Tamora was acting as squirrely as Ralph had been before he went Turbo…

As it happened, Tamora was headed to Hero's Duty as normal, but, as she had left Kohut in charge, she wasn't going to lead the first person shooter up the tower. Instead, she ducked into the isolated training room. Weights lined three walls, a long mirror the remaining one, heavy exercise machines waited, stationary, to be used. All the walls were painted white, and three bright, cylindrical bulbs whined into life on the ceiling as Tamora flicked the light switch. This room was comparatively brighter than most of her game. It was somewhat refreshing to escape to a different colour scheme; from black and green to just plain old white. Not bothering to look at her disapproving reflection again in the long mirror, Tamora wasted no time in venting her frustration on the equipment. The heavy punch bag, the dumbbells and big weights, the treadmill, only stopping to rest occasionally.

She wasn't sure how much time passed in the training room. She only stopped when she saw Kohut's reflection in the mirror out of the corner of her eye as she was laid on her back, lifting some of the bigger weights. With a grunt of effort, she lifted the pole back up and set it on the stand before sitting up and fixing the confused looking Kohut who was standing in the doorway with a steely glare. She felt very warm, panted lightly, and all her muscles trembled lightly from the exertion of all the exercise she had been doing. "Shouldn't you be leading the first person shooter, Kohut?" she barked. "Back to work!" She could do without Kohut asking questions too, like Felix was sure to. Kohut scratched the back of his neck awkwardly with a large, gloved hand. "Erm…the arcade's closed, Sarge…" he said. "Litwak closed it five minutes ago."

Tamora blinked, surprised. Had she really been here all day? Composing herself from her confused state, she switched a blank face for a scowling one, and barged past Kohut without a word. He watched her go in silence, and scratched his head. Maybe her husband, Fix-It Freddie, or whatever his name was, knew what was going on here. Meanwhile, in Niceland, Felix, Ralph and Vanellope were crowded into Felix's apartment. Ralph, naturally, had to duck down even more than Tamora did, being nine foot tall, whereas Vanellope, who was roughly the size of a Nicelander anyway, had no problems moving around with ease.

Vanellope was distracted, bouncing a ball the size of her palm off the wall again and again, making a repetitive _thunk, thunk, thunk_, but Felix was sharing his worries with Ralph. "I dunno what's gotten into Tammy," he said, twiddling his thumbs anxiously. "She just…seemed off. Not herself at all." Ralph patted him on the back with a gargantuan hand – a little more roughly than he had intended – and smiled at him. "Don't worry. I'm sure it's nothin'. You worry too much!" Felix frowned doubtfully at Ralph's prediction of things not being important. He knew he did have a tendency to over-worry about things sometimes, but still…


	4. Chapter 3

**[A/N: Again, I'm really paranoid they're out of character...anyway, enjoy! This is kind of the last chapter, but if I get demand and inspiration for a sequel, I shall do one!]**

"Hey, Stinkbrain? What's up with the Sarge?" A higher pitched voice chipped in. Vanellope had stopped bouncing the ball off the wall, and shoved it into her hoody pocket before crossing her arms and staring at Ralph and Felix expectantly. Felix sighed, then put on a smile. There was no need for Vanellope to worry. She was just a little girl after all. "I'm sure she's fine. I think she's just tired," he explained. Vanellope raised an eyebrow, then shrugged dismissively. "Whatever you say." Just then, the door creaked open, and Tamora walked in to a suddenly very quiet room with three pairs of eyes on her. She paused, then frowned. "What?" she asked accusingly.

Ralph was the first one to speak. "Well!" he said, clapping his hands once conclusively. "We'll be seein' ya, buddy. C'mon, Vanellope. Let's get you back to Sugar Rush." Vanellope pouted. "But-" she started to say, but she was interrupted by Ralph picking her up under his arm and carting her out the door. "See ya guys!" The door slammed and they were gone. Faint sounds of Vanellope protesting were heard fading outside the door as the two got further away. Once again, the couple was left in awkward silence. "Er…so why did Wreck-It and Squirt leave so fast?" Tamora asked suddenly, to break it. She'd had enough of awkward silence. Felix sighed gently. "I was talking to them about you," he confessed. Being a Good Guy, he couldn't bear to lie. "Because something's bothering you, I can tell…"

He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before standing and moving so he was stood, facing his wife. Looking up at her, he tried not to sound accusing with his next words. "You left your armour…where were you today?" He finished his question somewhat timidly, as if afraid she would strike him. But she didn't; instead, she groaned quietly and felt her heart miss a beat and sink unpleasantly at the surprise from his words. How could she have been such an _idiot_? Ugh, she felt like some pathetic rookie now. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists in frustration. "Look…I _was_ in Hero's Duty," she said stiffly. "But I wasn't leading the first person shooter today. Kohut was, upon my order. I was in the training room all day. Lost track of time." She opened her eyes again, but looked at her feet. She didn't want to look in his eyes, even though this action would probably make her words seem insincere and untruthful.

Felix was left with a feeling of dissatisfaction as Tamora answered his question. It only brought up more questions. Why had she ordered Kohut to lead the first person shooter? She would never do that – at least not normally. And why would she try to sneak out without telling him? A thought came into his mind suddenly that caused his stomach to tie in knots of nausea. Was she…seeing someone else? Would Tamora do that? No…of course she wouldn't…but…could she? Felix couldn't bear the thought of losing his wife, and so he couldn't help himself blurting out another question. "Are you seeing another man?" he gabbled quickly, a hint of despair in his voice. As soon as he had said the words, though, he clamped his hands over his mouth. He could have put it much more subtly! But he just had to know…he prayed with a thumping heart and a held breath that the answer would be no. Losing her would tear him apart.

Tamora was shocked into looking him directly in the eyes now. Seeing another man? He really thought she was seeing another man? She opened her mouth and tried to speak, but closed it again. Her heart raced too as her face contorted into various emotions – anger, disbelief, and finally sorrow as tears prickled in her eyes. "Of course I'm not seeing another man, you idiot! Don't you trust me?" she choked, her voice strangled with a sob she refused to let out. Felix let out the breath he had been holding loudly in relief. But his breath caught again as he looked back up at Tamora's face. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking at his feet in shame. "Of course I trust you…I just couldn't bear to lose you…I just…can't help thinking something's wrong!"

Tamora rubbed her eyes roughly with her arm, and sniffed to prevent her nose from running. He was right. There _was_ something wrong. But she hadn't been sure how to tell him, or if she even wanted to. She was still having reluctance in believing the situation herself. Swallowing the lump that had arisen in her throat, she pointed to the sofa. "Sit down," she said hoarsely. If her irregular behaviour was so worrying to him that he thought she was seeing someone else, then she couldn't hide it any longer, no matter how much she wanted to. Felix obediently moved to the sofa and sat, and Tamora followed, sitting on the other cushion. She put her face in her hands for a moment and tried to compose herself and her words in her head. "Tammy…?" Felix said warily after a while. Sighing, Tamora looked up a little and moved her arms so her elbows were resting on her knees and she was crouched forward. Once more, she decided to let the words on her tongue spill without thinking about them.

"What are you supposed to do with a baby, Felix?" she asked wearily. "They just cry, eat, sleep, soil themselves, and demand attention!" Silence swamped the room again as her husband sat, straight-backed and wide eyed, processing what his wife had just said, stunned. It was Tamora's turn to prompt Felix from silence this time – she half-heartedly flicked his hat down over his eyes, breaking his trance. Clumsily correcting his hat on his head, Felix looked up at Tamora, a huge smile spreading over his face. "A baby – you're sure?" he said, his voice cautious but elated. "This is…jiminy jaminy, this is amazing, Tammy!" Tamora sighed in response. Amazing – it was easy for him to say. "But looking after a baby isn't in my code…killing Cy-bugs is," she replied. "I don't have the first clue what to do with a kid!"

Felix shifted closer to his wife and took her hands, turning her to face him a little. "Neither do I," he reassured her with a slightly dizzy laugh. "But we can do this together, right? And babies don't just cry, they laugh, and play, and learn, and grow!" He finished with a smile, and Tamora managed a small smile too. "I suppose so," she said quietly. Normally, nothing scared Tamora Calhoun. But parenthood did; it was so irregular for her. But then, wasn't a child a huge thing for any couple? She met Felix's eyes again. They were warm and comforting, and she allowed herself to find consolation in them. He was right. They would do this together, from start to finish.


End file.
